What factors could explain why wage inequality in the United States has been increasing over the last several decades?
What will be an ideal response?
While there are many factors that contribute to the rise in wage inequality, technological change is the key trend that has increased the wedge between high and low-earning workers. The primary technological change over this time period has been advances in computing power. This change appears to have been broadly skill-biased, improving the marginal productivity of skilled workers and causing the demand for their labor and pay to increase. It has also replaced many tasks performed by unskilled labor, thereby decreasing the demand for such workers and lowering their wages. The skill-biased nature of recent technological changes is one of the reasons why United States wage inequality has increased dramatically over the last several decades.
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The difference between price and average total cost is
A) total costs. B) marginal costs. C) average profit. D) an irrelevant quantity.
A demand curve usually has a
a. negative slope because price and quantity demanded are inversely related b. negative slope because as price rises, demand falls c. positive slope because price and quantity demanded are positively related d. positive slope because price and quantity demanded are inversely related e. slope of zero because there is no change along a demand curve when everything else is held constant